Mourning Dove

one day
of new snow
a lone gray-brown dove
swoops in for a swallow

unlike most birds
it drinks
without lifting its head
with nary a blink
of beady black eyes
on legs red-pink
the dove does drink

after having its fill
the dove does rest
beneath nearby white pine
my hands did plant
15 years past

as frozen crystals swirl
deeper the dove walks
beneath pine bough -
a shield
from above
for one lone dove

I watch
the slender figure
nestle down
into leaves brown
pulling them
with tiny beak
lovingly close
one by one
for comfort
from cold

feeling warm
and safe from harm
in home
of the moment
its tired eyes
slowly close

I watch
this symbol of peace
sleep
and wonder
of its mourning song
sung for our world
each morning

Spring

A sense of warmth is tapping at the door;
And hope, a feeling out from distant lore
– Or so it seems – clears the deep refrain!

Emerging youth: a dormant lea awakes.
The raging colour, singing loud, partakes
In annual birth – spring is born again!

A zest anew for nascent life
Begins in floral train:
Carriage one: a snowdropp thrill;
Carriage two: the crocus;
Number three, a daffodil – dancing,
Drawing focus – as she would,
Attention seeker!

How I love our spring:
The bold and sleeker feel I get,
An inner glow, a ring!
I’ve paid the winter’s chilly debt, so
Now upon the wing!




Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2010

Darkness

The darkness outside is the darkness within
Night is the most frightening time
And winter the most difficult season
And old age the coldest and cruelest time of life.

And I now in winter in old age in the middle of the night
Write
A small poem of hope
Against the greater darkness to come
The night which does not end
And the cold which goes on forever.

Peace

When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Rain

A drop at first
Just a test check
Then another came down
To give it company
Lightly then it touched
My cheek like a spray
From falling waterfall
A light brush with
A peacock’s feather
The touch was cool
Mingled with the breeze
And the distant scent
Of land kissed by rain
A kiss at first so light
Then it trickled down
It came as drops of pearls
Shattering into thousand
Diamonds on touching earth
It soaks it to the full
The earth its heat subdued
And thirst slaked revels
Wearing the rain water
On it as a silver sheen
The rain it falls through
The leaves, the fronds
It falls on river, pond
On lotus leaves and all
It comes tumbling down
Like sheets of liquid wall
A descent of opaque
I can’t see beyond my hand
The rain it came dressed
In crystals and pearls
And dazzling swaroski too
To the sound of drums
And flashing serial lights
To dances with me in its clasp!

A Walk In The Woods

I wish I can take
A walk in the woods
And there I can
Take off trouble's hood
And cry there a lot
Where i'm alone
Where no one is present
To share my mourn
So on my return
From the woods
I feel free of
All trouble's hood.

Seema Chowdhury

Hummingbird

So rare and sweet
So swift so fleet-
Each bird soars without care,
But of all those which I see-
and mean the most to me-
Is the darting,
Hummingbird.

So brief she flies-
Through azure skies-
Oedipus in search
of nectared wombs,
And her beak-
oh so shiek-
As she stabs every bloom-
In Nature’s floral
enmansioned rooms.

See!
There she is!
She flits and she flows
With severe temerity,
For while she lives:
She lived regally well
In her blue summer robes-
And most
Whole-heartedly.

But now the summer
it has come to its end
And unindemnified
she soon shall be gone,
Yes
much too soon
her frazzled ways
have run their course:
She fugacious,
So
“So long.”

But come next year
We will see her again
Sparkling-
Summer’s fizz,
Floating about-
Her blue color a shout-
And tantalizing.
For “what is”
Is
“What is”.

Garden Gate

Today I passed your garden gate,
It rattled to and fro.
I don't remember it this way,
The gate I used to know.

Today I touched your garden gate,
The crumbling wood and rust.
How could I replace them now,
Its pieces turned to dust?

Today I breached your garden gate
As I had done before.
I wondered if you might be there,

 Tilling earth once more.

Today I closed your garden gate
Behind me once again.
I walked along your garden path
The way I did back then.

Today beyond your garden gate
Where I shall wait for now;
They say you won't, but I just know,
You must return somehow.

Today beyond your garden gate
Where I've shed many tears;
They all expect to see me there,
The place I've come for years.

Today beyond your garden gate
I felt you there somehow.
Twas then I came, at last to peace.
A place unknown till now.

For just beyond your garden gate
My destiny was cast.
A place from where no man returns.
I found you there at last.

Happiness

Happiness is an ice cream cone
with a chocolate coating,
and lots and lots of sprinkles.
Happiness is a child’s laughter.
Happiness is two people holding hands
while walking dreamily in the park.
Happiness is two people in love.
Happiness is the splashing of the waves
while sitting under the stars on the beach.
Happiness is the sounds of a carnival
with rides, laughter, and games.
Happiness is winning a teddy bear
from the dart game at the fair.
Happiness is a smile
on a cloudy, dreary day.
Happiness is helping someone
from deep in your heart.
Happiness is dining out at a very
special place, on a very special day.
Happiness is saying, “I do.”
Happiness is catching the bridal bouquet.
Happiness is a leisurely Sunday drive
down a peaceful country road.
Happiness is all of this
and much, much more.
Happiness is in your mind,
and what you make of it.

Mom

How quiet the night sky
Cloud covered and empty
How silent my heart
Alone and lonely
But for these words
I fear the world be nothing
But the memory of you
Which makes me weep
Tears of such divine love
Unable to speak
To make a sound to the night
In contemplation I find
Such joy in the memory of you

My Love

O my dear sweet heart,
As we walk, hand in hand,
In a moonlit night,
Millions of stars smiling as witness delight,
Bearing the sign of love to prove true.

Dew drops cooling our heels,
Simmering raindrops stimulating,
Sleeping soil with fragrance,
Chirping foot bare on grass luscious,
Flowers dancing wildly around.

Aura golden around you,
Transformed my world new and multicolored,
With the first ray at dawn,
Whispered you in voice enchanting,
Like a bubbling nightingale.

O my love, you are a gift divine to me,
A treasure most precious to me,
It made blind Homer to sing,
In sound ravishing on melodious harp,
Only oath with oath, nothing weighs.

Thou magic cooled my heart,
With pleasure and treasure,
Her lips sucked my soul flying,
Delivered to my self again,
Thy lips, a dwelling divine.

All waste that is not love,
A flame that stormed the test of time,
O my love,
Melt thyself as water drops in ocean round
And dissolve in me, never to be found.

Sadness

Sadness is when we feel hurt
Its knowing nobody can make you feel better
no matter how hard they tried
Its relizing in the past hours how much you cried
Its hating everyone around you because of all their lies
Its sitting down and wondering why
Sadness can break you down
It makes you want to end it now
Its feeling lost or scared
you thought that everyone cared
growing up thinking one thing
then finally opening your eyes to realize it was nothing but lies
I trusted them from the start
now I find myself falling apart
Sadness is trust thats been lost
Its realizing the heart was the cost
Sadness is depression
but can it be fixed is the question
can something that hurts so bad end just like that?
the answer is no
my strength I will regain
now I refuse to ever feel sadness again

Feelings

Loneliness comes and goes,
how it feels everyone knows.
Everyone has felt the pain that i say,
they have felt it some how some way.
It hurts deep inside your heart,
it feels like your whole world has fallen apart.
You feel empty and cold,
you are afraid you wlll feel this way until your old.
You decided to give up all hopes and dreams,
like there will be no end or this is how it seems
You scream and ask for help but noone is there,
you don't even know if anyone cares.
I hope everyone listens to what I have said,
because one day, at some point, these thoughts will be in your head.

My Magical Place

The sky in the morning is incredible,
As the sun rises,
And at night when it sets,
It fills the sky with extravagant colors;
Reds as dark as blood,
Oranges and yellows as bright as the smile of a new born baby,
And blues and purples so deep,
It’s as if you can fall right into them.

At night when the moon is out,
Stars shine like shards of fierce diamonds,
The greatest treasure in the mystical night sky,
So dark,
That if you look too hard-
You just might get lost in it.

At night if you take a walk,
The moon lights your path,
So even in the darkest allies,
You can find your way.

When it storms out side,
You can see the brilliant lightning,
Slash through the night sky,
And the rain drops quivering as they fall,
Straight as an arrow,
Reflecting the anger of the thunder.

When it snows,
The flakes are the purest white,
Covering everything in the magic of winter.
As the trees get covered in ice,
And the sun lights on them,
It’s as if they’re on fire-
Able to consume the whole world.

These are just a handful,
Of the majestic wonders in the world around us,
Its secrets that only a few will find,
Because they are the only ones that can actually see
What is right in front of us.

Fairies' Child

She lived beside the edge of a sweep of heather
In a lone cottage by the rill,
Where the world and the fertile farmland came together,
And the winds ne'er are still:
Her hair was like ripening corn with the sunlight in it;
Her feet were swift as the deer;
And her voice was glad and sweet as the song of a linnet,
And her laugh was crystal-clear.

But one day the air was filled with wailing,
And grief long and sore,
For she came not home when the evening light was failing,
And they ne'er saw her more;
Forth in the early morn she had hastened fleetly
Over the leaping rill,
At the sound of a fairy's laughter ringing sweetly,
And a call from the hill.

Gone, she was gone thro' the close-barr'd gates of Faerie,
That magic eve in June;
But still, when the winds are loose and the moor is eerie,
In the light of a fitful moon,
On the edge of the moor she wanders calling, calling,
She more than mortals fair,
And she dries the tears that will keep falling, falling,
With her long, streaming hair;
And mothers shudder and clasp their children nearer,
When the wind's sounding shrill,
Lest they hear the voice of the lost one ringing clearer,
And the call from the hill.

The Moon

The full-orbed moon with unchanged ray
Mounts up the eastern sky,
Not doomed to these short nights for aye,
But shining steadily.

She does not wane, but my fortune,
Which her rays do not bless,
My wayward path declineth soon,
But she shines not the less.

And if she faintly glimmers here,
And paled is her light,
Yet alway in her proper sphere
She's mistress of the night.

Serene

I think it would be wonderful to be able

to walk along this path.

Hear the wind blow in the trees

and the birds singing.

So green and peaceful to look at.

A Secret Place to call all your own.

Come......